Racing resumes tonight at Fernley 95A Speedway with the Super Stock 4, Street Stock, Dwarf, Modified, and Pro Stock divisions all on the program. It will be the second 2016 appearance at Fernley 95A for the Nevada Pro Stock Association’s $1,000 to win series, so there should be a large field of those big horsepower ground pounders on hand. Gates open at 3 p.m. and racing starts at 6.
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Last Sunday’s racing didn’t disappoint. Despite a rain-soaked start in the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is back on form. The Mercedes driver scored his first victory of the season ahead of the charging Red Bull machine of Daniel Ricciardo who might have won but for a lengthy pit stop when his new tires weren’t on hand. A number of cars fell afoul of the guardrails lining the tight streets of the tiny municipality, including Formula One’s youngest race winner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. And for once it was Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg who experienced technical issues with his Mercedes and finished well down the order in seventh. Monaco shaved Rosberg’s championship points margin over his teammate to 24.
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Sports books everywhere must have made a killing on the 100th running of the Indy 500 due to the unexpected surprise winner. Young American Alexander Rossi went from semi-obscurity as a part-time driver in Formula One’s slowest team a year ago to the company of motorsports legends when he won the 500 on Sunday. A combination of strategy and phenomenal fuel management enabled Rossi to stretch his last fuel load to an incredible 36 laps (90 miles), three laps longer than anyone thought possible. As the leaders one by one called into the pits for a splash of ethanol in the closing laps, Rossi stayed out and crossed the line with not even enough fuel left to make it to victory circle. Like Monaco, a number of drivers found the walls at Indy, with several damaged cars but thankfully no injuries. Rossi’s team co-owner, Michael Andretti, seemed as surprised as anyone his driver was able to stretch his fuel and give Andretti his fourth Indy win as a team owner. Rossi has only a short time to relish his Indy victory, as he’s back in the seat today for the first race of the Dual in Detroit doubleheader which wraps up Sunday.
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The final race of the day, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, saw yet another new winner and Chase Contender. Martin Truex Jr. turned in an even more dominating performance than he had in Kansas, but this time he was in front at the checker. The race marked the halfway point in the “regular” season that will determine the 16 drivers who will contend for the championship. Truex can now count himself among that group. In honor of his longtime girlfriend who has been battling cancer, he named his winning car Sherry.
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On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will be at Pocono Raceway for the first of two visits to the tricky triangle this season. Truex won last year’s spring race and with the momentum he’s carrying, he could very well become a two-time winner tomorrow. Matt Kenseth took the win last fall, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored a Pocono sweep last season, the only two times he’s had success there. Although Jeff Gordon holds the record with six Pocono victories, he’ll be using a microphone this weekend.
Denny Hamlin is reigning champ among active drivers with four, while Jimmie Johnson has three to his credit. Johnson’s most recent win was in the spring of 2013 while you have to go all the way back to 2010 since Hamlin’s been to victory circle. Other drivers who have won at Pocono are Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, and Tony Stewart with two apiece. Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have each won once along with Truex and Kenseth. Stewart leads all active drivers in Pocono starts, and races in the No. 35 Sunday with his final Pocono appearance coming up on July 31.
